


The First of Many Days

by WhereDoYouWantMe



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Friendship, Releasing lanterns, Wishes, lanterns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-31 21:02:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17856905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereDoYouWantMe/pseuds/WhereDoYouWantMe
Summary: Every year on Arthur's birthday, the kingdom releases lanterns. Now, even after Arthur is gone, Merlin lights a lantern.





	The First of Many Days

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a tiny fic I decided to make at midnight because I remembered that scene in Tangled with the lights and had to do something about it before I forgot. It's short, but enjoy.

The first time it happens is when the prince is born, a wrinkled and pink ball that cries for much too long afterwards. His mother dies hours later, terrified and alone and Uther is left a widow with a Kingdom to rule. 

He stands with his son for a very long time and just watches him, the way that his little fists ball up into the collar of Uther's shirt and how he cries into his chest. He seems much too delicate to be real, as though one false move might shatter him and all that Uther has of Ygraine will be gone. Gaius is beside him, running his fingers across the child's head as he whispers a blessing. Arthur seems to calm under the physician's words and he stops wriggling long enough for Uther to get a proper look at him. 

"Magic brought him into this world but it took her out of it." The memory of her death is recent enough that he cries over his son. "It is not to be trusted, Gaius. We must destroy it." And if Gaius's face is heartbroken, Uther pretends not to notice. 

Uther greets his son to the Kingdom as Arthur Pendragon, Future king of Camelot and the crowd roars to the sounds of the baby crying. He is the first to light a lantern and set it into the night sky, the light bobbing up and down as it is joined by hundreds of others all spinning around each other until they disappear one by one. 

Tomorrow, Uther will pass the law against magic and every sorcerer in Camelot's borders will be executed. Tonight, however, he stands with his son and with the memory of his wife and readies himself for war.  
\----  
Arthur always loves his birthday. It means food and gifts but most of all he loves the lanterns in the evening. At six he was given his own and at twelve, his is now coloured with the paints that Morgana had been gifted for her own birthday, a dragon in red delicately painted in the middle. Arthur loves it and almost steals it to keep under his bed but the lights really are so pretty and Morgana says that she doesn't mind if he sets it off into the sky. 

His nanny always says that the lanterns are for good luck, that if you wish on your lantern it comes true. He always tells her that it's hogwash but ever since she told him he wishes in his lantern every year. 

This year he wishes for a new sword and to be the best, wisest and kindest King that Camelot has ever seen.  
\------  
It is three days before his sixteenth birthday that Arthur kills his first man. They're struck in battle with Mercia and honestly, a battle was the most realistic option but he can't help but feel as though he could have avoided this. Perhaps if he had wished for peace they would have had it. 

The man - who is more a boy than anything else - dies on the end of his sword without a noise and falls to the ground in a similar fashion. Arthur draws his sword out and half collapses to the ground because the boy is dead and Arthur has killed him.

He doesn't remember anything else other than vomiting and going to Gaius for a potion to help stop his hands from shaking. 

So, when his sixteenth birthday comes, Morgana kisses him on the cheek and asks what he wishes for. He tells him the same thing as he does every year: "For peace throughout Camelot. And a better sister." And she rolls her eyes like every year and they laugh. 

But really, Arthur wishes to forget the man's face, even though he knows that he never will.  
\---  
When Merlin arrives, it's nearly Arthur's birthday and he can't help but tease his servant about not knowing any of the customs before Merlin points out he is an arse and Arthur concedes. 

Merlin goes all doe-eyed for second and Arthur half asks if he is okay before Merlin stammers out a, "They were from you? The floating lights?"

And Arthur nods because Merlin looks as if he is about to pass out. 

"We used to see them from Ealdor once a year. Will always used to joke about how they might be for him." Merlin smiles at that and even though Arthur doesn't know who Will is, he smiles to.

That year, Arthur wishes for sorcery to leave the lands of Camelot and that Will, whoever he may be, live a happy and prosperous life.  
\---  
The next time they release the lanterns, a lot has changed and Arthur is very much aware of it. The Kingdom has, the people inside it have and Arthur feels more than a little out of the loop. 

The unicorn is dead, the people are recovering from the famine and Arthur's shoulder is still bound from where he was attacked by the Questing Beast. Merlin has to help him light his lantern and he almost leans against him for support when he lets it go. 

Will is dead now, so he can't wish for his good health so instead, so quietly that only Merlin can hear it, he murmurs. "To Will." 

And when Merlin says back, "To Will." Arthur wishes that he would stop losing everyone.  
\----  
Morgana has deserted them and Camelot has only just been saved. Arthur is exhausted, as is Merlin and his father is too sick to leave his chambers. They lean on each other for support and when they both light their lanterns, Arthur imagines that they wish for the same thing. 

Merlin never tells him what he wishes for, but he can feel it sometimes. And he knows, in his heart, that it's true. He's glad that it's over and he's glad that Merlin is still with him.  
\---  
Arthur dies much too young and Merlin weeps as the boat nudges its way across Avalon. It hurts as he watches, but he brings himself the strength to whisper, "Leóhtfæ." And a small lantern with a red dragon grows from his hand. 

It is dark enough for the light to reflect on the water when he pushes it up and Merlin watches it for a long time even when it disappears into the lake. He wishes for the same thing that he has always wished for. 

For the good of Albion and the Once and Future King.  
\---  
Living for so long has exhausted Merlin. He's old, not in appearance but in mind and he is drawing to the end of his patience. He has waited lifetimes for Arthur, has returned once every year to bid him good luck and to wish for his good fortune but still his friend sleeps. 

There is a sense of finality in the way that he approaches the lake this evening, he knows that the magic in the earth can feel it. It tugs at his trousers and his mind and pleads with him not to leave, to stay and surrender to the magic. 

It seems that he is not the only one who is exhausted. 

The lantern grows from his hand without him having to whisper the words, as it has for years now but he hesitates from setting it off. 

"Come back to me, Arthur." He pleads and kisses the lantern once. "Just come back. I'm tired of waiting." 

And the lantern traces its way across the lake, reflecting on the dark surface before slipping soundlessly underneath the water. He waits for what seems like an eternity before the magic in the earth hums and the water in the lake glows a bright gold, ashes of magic buried deep in the very fabric of the lake, holding it together. 

Merlin watches until the gold fades, and when the water does not stir, settles himself in for another eternity of waiting.


End file.
